The Post-uprising Arab World and the West: Mythology and Cultural Challenges

Abstract

The Arab Middle East outlook is shaped by domestic and regional conflicts, transnational influences, and geopolitical ambitions, but in some ways the underlying drivers of change outweigh the long-term significance of recent political outcomes. Education, technology, female employment, and globalization have galvanized new perspectives on being Arab and “modern.” Although influential actors, vested interests, and traditional notions of authority, education, and gender resist reform and regional turmoil poses threats of political and social regression, demands for justice, dignity, and accountability represent a paradigm shift toward popular empowerment, from which no Arab state will remain immune. This chapter argues that the Arab’s future will be determined by the ability of progressive reformists—Islamist and secular—to effectively capture the political imagination of emerging Arab societies. Their task will be to replace models of authority whose relevance to contemporary Arabs’ expectations is increasingly questioned, while balancing popular and leadership level concerns for predictability and security against the need for reforms.